


Rocking The Boat

by Relh99



Series: While We Wait [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Takes place after A New Year Of Lying To Myself, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:40:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24186025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Relh99/pseuds/Relh99
Summary: Virgil hates how overly optimistic the others are, but he hates how Janus is able to pull strings in the background more. Now he has to explain himself to the snake without making it sound like he’s actively trying to work against him.(Says it’s part 2 in a series, but can be read on its own without missing anything).
Series: While We Wait [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1742587
Comments: 7
Kudos: 67





	Rocking The Boat

**Author's Note:**

> I tried to wait to post this since I only finished the chaptered fic yesterday, but then I realized I work early in the morning and have stuff going on tomorrow evening, and I didn’t want to just sit on it, so here ya go, the first one-shot of the series! It’s a flash-back (kinda).
> 
> One of the things I wanted to explore was Virgil and Janus’ relationship before Accepting Anxiety, so here’s a one-shot that takes place after episode 4 in the Sanders Sides playlist, “A New Year of Lying to Myself... In Song!!” 
> 
> (While this is part 2 in the series, this technically takes place before “No One Told Virgil” so it can be read on its own without reading that fic).

Virgil reentered the mind palace, annoyed over how the situation with Thomas and the other upbeat, optimistic sides played out. Sure, the song was catchy, but that didn’t change the fact that by ignoring the fact that Thomas has never been good at keeping up his new year’s resolutions, they were essentially convincing Thomas to lie to himself. Even without showing his face, Janus was still pulling strings from the background. It was obnoxious. Virgil had to go show face to cause a little panic while Janus was able to sit back and watch the show, Thomas completely oblivious to what was happening. Can’t say Virgil didn’t try to warn him. 

“Hey, Anxiety.”

Virgil spun around and frowned, instantly knowing who was there. “Hey, Deceit. Didn’t expect to see you wandering around.”

“Did you just get back?” Janus asked, ignoring Virgil’s comment.

“What’s it to you?”

Janus laughed which only added on to Virgil’s annoyance. “Oh, come on! Am I not allowed to ask a friend about their day?”

Virgil shrugged. “Just wanted to pop in, spread some fear, ya know, my job. Didn’t think you’d care about my boring routine when you’re clearly up to something far more interesting.”

“Hm, you’d think,” Janus hummed. He adjusted the half-cloak at his shoulders and waved to Virgil, summoning him down the hall towards their side of the mind palace. “Come. Fill us in on how today played out.”

And this was exactly what Virgil was afraid of. Not only did the word ‘us’ put him on edge, since it implied Remus would be present, but the way Janus spoke, his tone...

As they walked, Virgil kept his hands in his jacket pockets, his mind racing at a million miles a minute. He and Janus were friends in the sense that the others didn’t want them to negatively affect Thomas, so they stuck together. It was more of an understanding than a real friendship. Sure, they had their moments, but in the end he knew he couldn’t trust Janus to defend him against any of the others. 

Janus slid open the door to the back den, their group’s own little hang out separate from the others. While technically any of them could go anywhere in the mind palace, besides personal rooms without permission, the two groups avoided each other for the most part. The only time they would really cross paths was in the kitchen, but even then they all had different eating schedules to keep interactions at a minimum. So Virgil showing up to directly talk to Thomas when that was something the other three normally did one their own was definitely strange. He wished he could say it wasn’t his fault Thomas was so anxious, but it kind of was.

Virgil slid the door shut behind them and mentally prepared himself for the worse when he saw Remus in the corner playing with a box of matches. Despite being figments of Thomas’ imagination, the fear of Remus burning the room down crept into the back of Virgil’s mind. Hearing the door close caught the Duke’s attention and his head snapped up to see who was there. He smiled a bit too wide at the sight of the two of them.

“Welcome back, eye bags! Have fun on the surface? How’s my brother doing?” Remus questioned.

“Didn’t have fun, and Princey is as annoying as ever,” Virgil huffed. Janus took a seat on the loveseat and leaned back. Remus straightened up from his slouched position, sensing that the serpent was about to start their own group meeting.

“Virgil was kind enough to offer insider info from today’s little Thomas’ talk for us since we weren’t invited,” Janus explained, his sly smile only working to piss the anxious side off.

“Didn’t volunteer, and I wasn’t invited either,” he corrected. The other two just stared at him waiting for him to start talking about the things they cared about. Virgil sighed and leaned against the wall, not wanting to sit down while he was this on edge.

“It was just the three stooges arguing over what New Year's resolutions to set.”

Janus sighed wistfully. “Ah yes, my favorite time of the year. Convincing Thomas that he’s not lying to himself and that he’s actually going to fulfill his plans this time around. However, I heard you had some pretty interesting things to say about the matter, Virgil. Care to share?”

“Yeah, I said they couldn’t just solve their issues with a catchy song,” Virgil said, choosing his words carefully. He knew he couldn’t lie to Janus, he’d catch on right away, but if he was cautious and watched how he worded his answers, he might be able to get through this conversation.

“Don’t you know music can solve any problem, Virgil?” Janus chuckled.

“Especially with Roman there,” Remus chimed in. “Want to distract him? All you gotta do is play something catchy or wave something shiny in front of him and then boom! Issues are being ignored while that dork entertains himself!” 

“You act like you’re not also easily distracted,” Virgil scoffed.

“Less easily distracted and more like never really focused in the first place,” Remus shrugged.

“Back to the matter at hand,” Janus said, pulling them back in. “If I’m not mistaken, you had a point during their little show tune break, didn’t you, Virgil? Something about telling Thomas to just give up on his resolutions?”

Virgil nodded, thinking fast. “Yeah, did you forget that I’m literally there to convince Thomas not to do things?”

“Yes, but you know I’m the one influencing Thomas and telling him that he’ll be able to keep up with his resolutions, so I’m just wondering why you’re intentionally working against me?” Janus asked, sounded hurt. Virgil knew it was all an act, but that just made Janus’ delivery all the more intimidating. He wanted Virgil to feel bad so he’d step aside and stop interfering with his plans.

“I think I actually helped you out in the long run,” Virgil said, shrugging casually, trying to hide how nervous he was. “I mean, the others wanted Thomas to set resolutions, and they already hate me, so when I said to give up, they all doubled down and argued against me. Thomas even admitted that he might be lying to himself, but that he wouldn’t know for some time, so I think instead of an interrogation, what you actually owe me is a thank you.”

Janus smiled, folding his hands together in his lap. “You’re right, Virgil,” he hummed. “Thank you for making my job so much easier.” He stood up and glanced at Remus before walking towards the door where Virgil was still standing.

“I appreciate what you did today,” Janus said, stopping just next to Virgil. “But I’d be careful in the future. You’re rocking the boat by popping up now. Make sure it doesn’t sink. That wouldn’t be good for anyone.”

Janus’ warning sent a chill down Virgil’s spine. Without another word, Janus slid open the door and left, closing it behind him and leaving Virgil alone with Remus. The den was quiet as the two remaining sides stared at each other for a moment, processing what just happened. 

“Want to hear some of the ideas I had to get Thomas to show his butt on camera?” Remus asked, breaking the silence.

Virgil sighed, not really wanting to talk to the Duke, but he also wanted something to take his mind off of the conversation. “Sure, hit me.”

Remus clapped his hands together and pointed them towards Virgil. “You’re familiar with Taylor Swift’s Shake it Off, right?”

“Yeah...?”

“Okay, so I’m thinking strip tease that involves literally shaking off all your clothes and twerking during the ‘haters gonna hate, hate, hate,’ part-“

“You know what?” Virgil said, cutting him off. “I think I’m just gonna go take a nap.” Without waiting for a response, he fled the room, slamming the sliding door behind him. Now he needed a distraction from his distraction. That’s what he got for trusting Remus to get his mind off of things he guessed.

**Author's Note:**

> A lot of the one-shots I have planned as of right now are flashbacks, so if anyone has anything they’d like to see (character interactions, moments they’d like addressed, wholesome family time, whatever) let me know! The whole point of this series is to fill in the time gaps between episodes for my own sanity as well as other people’s entertainment!


End file.
